Bender's Symposium

I have been thinking a lot the last few days about decisions. They are choices that we make every day. Most are trivial and really don't impact a whole lot out side of the immediate time they are made. Yet there are few decisions in life that all will ultimately make that will affect every aspect of their life. Most of us make them thinking it is the best or right choice at the time. After sometime has passed though, each and everyone of us will look back at that decision, see how it has affected our lives and wheigh in on wether it was the right one or not. If it is the right decision, then great and all power to us. The feeling of knowing the right decision was made feels wonderful and we enjoy the benefits it produces. But what if the decision was the wrong one? Without having to say, instead of feeling joyous and wonderful, we are left the opposite and often times feeling miserable. What do we do? Some decisions can be reversed. Ok, so we took a few steps back and with time ...

It never ceases to amaze me at how time flies. It seems like just yesterday I was loading up the cars and driving away from Mississippi to Florida to begin the next chapter of my life. Yet here I am, over three months later...two months into a job and almost three weeks as a civilian. A LOT has happened between then and now. Moved to a new state, moved into a new house, realized a close friend wasn't exactly what they appeared to be nor where they up to what they claimed they were up to, beginning a new job as a contractor, adjusting to civilian life and lastly officially becoming a civilian. Now I am in the process of trying to adjust my mind set and realize that I am no longer a part of the military and that I am a regular civilian. Part of me realizes that but a part of my mind hasn't quite let that go and I find myself very often still thinking I am. I am not sure if its because after being in for a third of my life, that my mind hasn't fully wrapped around the idea or ...

Well I am at about 38 days until I start the next chapter of my life. Stress right now is through the roof. The good news is that we already have a house worked out to move into. However, I am still trying to line up a job, need to finish out processing the military, pack up the current house, etc. There is so much to do and sometimes it seems over whelming. Reality though is that the check list I have to complete to separate from the military, long as it might be, is fairly easy to do. The hardest thing is driving all over base to go to the various different places. Yet I find myself dragging my feet and having a hard time motivating myself to get it done. I can't figure out why. One would think that being this close I would be all over it like a fat kid with chocolate cake. Yet I am not. The military is all I have known since being on my own. Getting out and becoming a normal civilian again, honestly scares the crap out of me. Maybe that is why I am having a hard time. But a pa...

Everyone knows and is talking about the death of Osama Bin Laden. This is a huge world event that has an affect on countless millions. I am sure this will be talked about for decades to come. There seems to be a common topic that is being discussed. Is it right to celebrate the death of a terrorist? A lot say yes but I am suprised at how many are saying no. They are saying no because regardless of what he was, he was still a human and death should not be celebrated. I don't agree with that and for those saying that, I think they are not realizing a few things. As I stated in a Facebook comment to a status of one my friends, the actual death of Osama is not what is being celebrated. People aren't so much rejoicing because his heart is no longer beating, but more because of other issues and feelings that the man brought about being alive. Some are celebrating not the death of the terrorist so much but more the accomplishment of the military troops. The military has been fighti...

Ok, it has been a while since I have posted any new posts. Every once in a while Life decides to throw a lot of curveballs all at once. The last few months for me have been nothing but curveball after curveball. It has been one of the more stressful times in my life. I probably should have kept posting as it would have offered a more healthy way of dealing with the stress. I instead shut down, bottled everything up and bit by bit began working on what I needed to inorder to get life back on track. I have never been accused of always making the right choices. :) Oh well, whats done is done and the point is I am back on. To say I got knocked on my backside would be an improvement. I got straight beat down, run through the mud, backed up on, repeated cycle, etc. Yet sometimes in life we need these times in order to realize what we have been doing wrong and fix them before its too late. Now I am a Christian and believe very much in God. So for me it was more than life just throwing cu...

I was recently challenged, yet again, to be the "bigger person". What is this bigger person concept? Why do we have it? There are a few scenarios on which this concept can be used. One scenario is being able to sense when a situation is getting unnecessarily heated. The bigger person at that point takes a step back, says something nice to diffuse the heated tension, and then walks away until a latter time when the issue at hand can be discussed in a calm and mature manner. Another scenario in which the "bigger person" concept can be used is when after a situation has gotten out of hand, the bigger person comes back later, accepts the fault and tries to smooth things out so the situation can be attempted again to be worked out. The last scenario in which the "bigger person" concept can be used is typically the one I get stuck with. This consists of the bigger person accepting all the blame for the unfortunate incident, making the other party feel better ...